Thread City Crossing Bridge, Willimantic
The town of Windham, located in northeastern Connecticut, is in the southwestern corner of Windham County along the Natchaug River. Incorporated in 1692, Windham originally included the current towns of Mansfield and Scotland, as well as parts of Chaplin and Hampton. It was not until 1857, when the last of these areas incorporated, that Windham took on its current shape. The town of Windham includes the city of Willimantic, which consolidated with Windham upon the dissolution of the city government in 1983. Named after Wyndam, England, the town’s early industry included numerous mills that brought Windham renown as a leader in thread manufacturing. Today Windham is known primarily for its university (Eastern Connecticut State University), located in the Willimantic section of town.
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Bridge Ornaments Help Tell the Legend of the Windham Frog Fight
One June night in 1754, Windham residents awoke to a dreadful sound, the source of which has inspired tall tales ever since. …[more]
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Websites
Department of Transportation. “History of Willimantic, The Thread City,” 2016. Link.
“The Last Green Valley,” 2017. Link.
Places
“Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum,” 2016. Link.
Windham Historical Society. “William Jillson Stone House Museum,” 2016. Link.
“Windham Historical Society,” 2016. Link.
The Mill Museum. “Windham Textile & History Museum,” 2017. Link.
Documents
Williams, William. “Broadside - Advertisement. Any Gun-Smith or Lock-Maker, Within the County of Windham, Who Is Willing to Supply the Colony with Any Number of Fire Arms, to Be Compleated by the 20th Day of October Next ... June 1st. 1775.” Timothy Green, 1775. Connecticut History Illustrated, Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
“Photograph - Frog Pond, Windham,” ca. - 1929 1910. Connecticut History Online, Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
“View of Willimantic, Conn. 1882.” Bird’s-eye. New York: W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Company, 1882. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Bailey, O. H. (Oakley Hoopes). “View of Willimantic, Conn. 1909.” Bird’s-eye. New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1909. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Windham - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2016. Link.
“Windham Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Lee, Stephen. “Windham County, Conn., Business Directory Containing the Names, Business and Location of All the Business Men in the County, Agricultural, Manufacturing, and Other Statistics, with a History of Each Town.” Windham County Transcript Office, 1861. Link.
Books
Howard, Daniel. Glimpses of Ancient Windsor, from 1633 to 1933. Windsor, CT: Windsor Tercentenary Committee, 1933.
Bayles, Richard, ed. History of Windham County, Connecticut. New York, NY: W. W. Preston & Company, 1889. Link.
Larned, Ellen. History of Windham County, Connecticut. 1600-1760. Vol. 1. Worcester, MA: Ellen Larned, 1874. Link.
Larned, Ellen. History of Windham County, Connecticut. 1760-1880. Vol. 2. Worcester, MA: Ellen Larned, 1874. Link.
Beardsley, Thomas. Willimantic: Industry and Community: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Textile City. Willimantic, CT: Windham Textile & History Museum, 1993.
Robillard, Ron. Windham and Willimantic. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.
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